Gun charger



Nav. 27, 1945.

GUN CHARGER Filed June 17. 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 V Inventor: Alexander` C. all, JV

6.2 by Hailg/Attorhey Nov. 27, 1945. A, C, WALL 2,389,943

GUN CHARGER Filed June 17, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Inventor; Alex an Ole` C. Wai I,

b Ix? y Attorney Patented Nov. 27, 1945 2,389,943 GUN CHARGER Alexander G. Wall, Indianapolis, Ind., assignor to General Electric Company, a corporation of New York Application June 17, 1942, Serial No. 447,327

4 Claims.

My invention relates to gun chargers, more particularly to a mechanism for automatically recharging or reloading a machine gun in the event that it fails to re, and has for its object a simple and reliable device of this character.

My invention relates especially to chargers of the type provided with a counting device for disabling the device after its operation a predetermined number of times to reload the gun. Thus, in such devices, the gun may be disabled by the occurrence of a predetermined number of dead or defective cartridges interspersed with live cartridges. This is a disadvantage because in along belt of cartridges a number of defective ones may appear, but rarely enough in sequence to disable the device.

It is an object of my invention to provide means for distinguishing between a predetermined number of sequential reloading operations of the gun by the charger without ring of the gun, which normally indicates an exhaustion of ammunition, and the condition of the same or greater number of operations not in sequence of the charging device to reload the gun. This distinction is eiected in accordance with my invention by resetting the counting device each time the gun fires by means responsive to the firing of the gun whereby the counting device is reset after a single defective cartridge is replaced, and also after the replacing of a sequence of defective cartridges up to the number of charger operations required to disable the device. This assures operation of the gun until the ammunition is exhausted, as indicated by a predetermined lsequence, such as ve or six, of charger operations without firing of the gun.

In carrying out my invention in one form, I provide a power operating device for the gun mechanism of the gas operated type, together with an electrically driven timer device for effecting operation of said operating means and means operated in response to the reloading operation of the gun either by the firing of the gun or by the charger for resetting said timing means. I also provide a counting device which is responsive only to the operation of the operating means and which disables the operating means after a predetermined number of successive operations, together with means responsive to the firing of the gun for resetting the counting device. Furthermore, in accordance with my invention, the timing device is operated by an electric motor and the operating means is controlled by a solenoid. This solenoid is in turn controlled by the timing device to effect the operation of the operating means through a suitable switch, and the electric timer motor and other circuits of the device are controlled by the counting means to deenergize the device after a predetermined number of successive operations.

For a more com-plete understanding of my invention, reference should be had to the accompanying drawings, Fig. 1 of which is a plan View, partly in section, showing a gun charger embodying my invention; Fig. 2 is a front elevation view of Fig. 1; Fig, 3 is a sectional view taken along the line 3 3 of Fig. 1 looking in the direction of the arrows; Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectional view along the line 4 4 of Fig. 2 looking in the direction of the arrows; Fig. 5 is an enlarged sectional view along the line 5-5 of Fig. 2 looking in the direction of the arrows; Fig. 6 is a diagrammatic view showing the electric circuits in the device; while Fig. 7 is a fragmentary exploded view showing parts of the charger mechanism.

Referring to the drawings, my invention in one form comprises a metal supporting member or bar III extending substantially parallel with the movement of the bolt of the machine gun back and forth in the reloading of the gun which bolt, it will be understood, carries the various elements of the gun ring mechanism. This bar I 0, which forms a support for the mechanism of the charger, is secured to one side of the gun by means of the undercut lug II and the undercut bolt head l2, which parts, it will be understood, engage the undercut sides of a groove or slot in the side housing of the gun thereby to secure the bar I0 rmly to the gun.

The power operating means or motor for reloading the gun consists of a hollow cylindrical plunger or piston I3 mounted in a cylinder I 4, the plunger being provided with a head I5 at its left-hand end which is provided with suitable packing to form a gas-tight joint with the inner wall of the cylinder I4. At its other end, the piston is provided with a guide head I6. A helical tension spring IT lies inside of the tubular piston and has one end I8 secured to a housing I9 and its other end secured to the head I6 of the piston. Thus, the spring applies a pulling force to move the piston tov its left-hand extreme position shown in Fig. 3.

In order that the head I 6 of the piston can engage and move the cooking stud or bolt handle 20 of the gun, the cylinder is provided at its righthand end with longitudinal slots 2| in opposite walls through which the cooking stud 2li extends into the path of the head 1B. This cooking stud is secured to the reciprocating bolt (not shown) reloaded ready for firing. The gun may be, for' example, of the type shown and disclosed in Patent 1,293,021, issued on February 4, 1919 to John M. Browning. Y Y

When the gun is firing normally,` the'studl 29 at the end of each movement toward the right engages and pushes back a timer resetting projection or arm 22, loosely mounted on a pivot support or rod 23, and thereby prevents operation of the charger. The timer arm 22 is yieldably connected by means of a friction clutch 24 (Fig.

4) `to a worm wheel or gear 25 constituting a. driving member turning on the rod 23 with' which engages a worm 26 driven byran electric motor 21. Thus when the gun is being red, the motor 21 operates continuously and rotates in a direction to move the arm22 clockwise (Figs. 3 .and 7) about its pivot 23 into the path of the stud 20. When the stud engages the arm 22, the friction clutch 24 yields to permit counterclockwise reset movement of th'e armback to its starting position independently of theworm gear, which is secured by. the worm 26 against reverse rotation. Y

Referring to Fig. 6, the gun operator may fire the gun by pressing closed a normally open push ibutton 28 which energizes the motor 21 and the solenoid 34, the solenoid 39 normally not being energized at that time. A normally closed control switch 3I is connected in circuit withall of Athedevices while a normally closed control switch 32 and a normally open control switch 33 are in series respectively with the coils 34 and 3D.

The energization of the solenoid 29 moves its armature 34 (Fig. 3) to its attracted position against the pressure applied by a helical spring 35 and thereby slides lengthwise a transversely extending plunger 36 toward the bottom of th'e sheet, as seenin Fig. 1, into a ring position whereby thegun is fired. As seen in Fig. .6, the beveled outer end of plunger 36 pushes a sear 36a in the gun toward the right' andthereby releases the spring-pressed gun firing pin 38 for the firing of the gun. The plunger 36 is h'eld against rotation by a spring latch'38a which bears on the hexagonal head V3817 of the plunger.

As seen in Fig. '1, theplunger 36 is provided withrtwo spaced collars 31 between which is a yoke member 38 on atransverse pivot shaft 39.

Thisyoke 39 is operated to move the plunger 36Y by means of a second yoke49 secured to the top of the pivot shaft 39 andY lying between collars 4I which are secured to the armature 34.

It will `be understood that the gun continues to fire as long as the firing switch 28 is held closed by the gunner unless the firing equipment fails or a cartridge fails to explode.

In the latter event, the stud 29 remains in its left-hand gunrclosed position of Fig. 3 and an arm`42, constituting a timer member, secured to and actuated with, the arm 22 moves after a time Y interval to engage end of a switch operating arm 43 on a pivot shaft 44, The arm 42 moves the end of the arm 43 upward thereby moving upward an operating pin 45 for closing the switch arm 22 counterclockwise to its reset position, Vas previously described, whereby the arm 43 is released and the switch 33 opens in accordance with itsjbias deenergizing the solenoid 39. The valve plunger Y41 is moved immediately to its lefthand closed position, together with the armature .46, by a helicalspring 59 as well as the spring 35 whereby an exhaust valve 5I is opened to conne'ct the port 49 to the outside atmosphere, and the CO2 inlet valve 41a is closed. Thereupon the spring I5 moves the piston I3 back to its lefthandposition, and the stud 20 and the gun bolt move to their left-hand gun closed firing positions. The gun now is fired assuming that the switch 28 is closed and provided, of course, that the fresh cartridge explodes. This loading cycle is also carried out to insert a cartridge in the event a vcartridge has not as yet been inserted.

It will be obvious that when the ammunition is exhausted, the piston I3 would be operated repeatedly with waste of CO2 gas in an attempt to reload the gun if some means were not provided to deenergize the device. To accomplish this after a predetermined number of operations of th'e plunger, I provide registering means, particularly a ratchet mechanism comprising a ratchet wheel 52 (Figs. 2 and '7) mounted loosely on the pivot rod 23 and normally held in any one of a plurality ofpositions by a spring latch 54. This ratchet wheel is operated by a lever 55 mounted loosely on the pivot rod 23 and having an arm 56 extending through a slot 56a in the cylinder I4 into the path of the piston head I6. As seen in Fig. 4, the arm Y56 is not long enough to be engaged by the stud 29, the arm 22 which extends through th'e same aperture 56a being longer. The arm 2 2V will also be engaged and moved back to its reset position by the piston head I6. On its upper end the lever 55 carries a spring ratchet operating latchv 51 which bears on the ratchet teeth 51a on the ratch'et wheel 52.

Thus, each time the piston I3 moves toward the right, it moves the lever 55 counterclockwise, as seen in Figs. 2' and '1, thereby moving the ratchet wheel 52 a distance slightly greater than one tooth so that the ratchet wheel is advanced one tooth. Also the piston moves the timer armV 22 back to its reset position shown in the drawings thereby opening the switch 33 to deenergize the solenoid 30. When this is repeated four or live times, separated by the time interval required to reclose the switch 33, the ratchet wheel will have been moved toV a position such that a projection 58 on a switch operating arm59 moves into a radial slot 6o in the ratchet wheel, the arm 59 being moved about the pivot shaft 44 by a helical tension spring 6I having one end connected to the arm 59 and its other end connected to the lever 55 whereby the lever is biased ina clockwise direction. This counterclockwise movement of the arm 59 about the pivot shaft 44 opens the switches Y3l and 32 operatedV by it whereby the device is completely deenergized and further operation of the CO2 operating device is prevented even though the firing button 28 is held closed.

Of course, if the ratchet Wheel 52 were not reset back to the starting position shown in the drawings each time a dud cartridge is encountered, a plurality of dud cartridges passing through the gun with firing cartridges between them would eventually result in the disabling of the CO2 operating device, as previously described. To prevent this, automatic means are provided for resetting the ratchet wheel 52 in response to the firing of the gun after the ejection of the defective cartridge, This is accomplished by an inertia device comprising an inertia member in the form of a plunger or pin E2 which extends substantially parallel with the direction of motion of the cooking stud 26, It will be understood that theecocking studV is Yrnovednby nthe recoil forceof the exploding cartridge. When the gun is fired, the tremendous recoil force applied to the gun moves the gun with respect to the inertia pin E2.

The pin is mounted on the end support 63 and on a support 6d so as to be slidable lengthwise but held against rotation with respect to these supports or, in other words, to permit the supports to move when the gun is iired with respect to the pin. Upon the firing of the gun, laterally extending pins 65 and ES on the plunger 62 engage respectively with reset projections 6'! and t8 on the spring latch member 5d and operating member T. These members are thereby bent away from the ratchet wheel so as to release the ratchet wheel whereupon the ratchet wheel is rotated by a helical spring 59 in a clockwise direction to the position shown in the drawings in which the ratchet wheel is brought to rest by engagement of the shoulder l0 on its periphery with the end of the projection 58.

Thus with this arrangement, when the ratchet wheel is advanced one tooth in the replacing of a defective cartridge. the ratchet wheel is relleased when a fresh cartridge explodes and is automatically reset to the position shown in the drawings. On the other hand, when the gun fails to i'lre, for example when the ammunition is exhausted, the ratchet wheel is not reset and its advance is continued as previously described until the entire device is disabled. It will be understood that the occurrence of a plurality of defective cartridges in succession sufficient to disable the device is very exceptional. It is possible that a suflicient number of defective cartridges to disable the device, if it were not automatically reset, might occur singly among a large number of cartridges.

In this latter event, that is, complete disablement of the charger, the ratchet wheel 52 is released manually for resetting by pressing inward the plunger 62, the outer end 62a of which projects from the support 63, and also at the saine time by pressing downward the switch lever 59. The lever 59 can be pushed down by means of a small object such as a screw driver inserted through an aperture H provided in the casing for that purpose. This lever is pushed down far enough to move the projection 58 out of the radial recess 60. The ratchet wheel is then reset by the spring 69.

The device is furthermore arranged to be mounted on the ri'ght or left-hand side of the gun by suitable changes in the assembly of the parts. The device shown is for right-hand mounting. For left-hand mounting the fir-ing plunger 36 is reversed so that the spaced collars 3l embrace a second yoke 12 provided in the device. Also, the supporting member I0 would be secured to the opposite side of the device,

The timing motor 2 preferably is a direct current motor, and a motor having a substantially constant speed. It is supplied with electric power from a suitable source such as a storage battery. It will be seen that the spring 35 is between and presses against the two armatures 34 and d6.

The control switches 3l, 32 and 33 may be of any suitable type. Preferably, snap action means is provided for operating them such, for example, as the snap operating means described and claimed in Patent 2,230,720, issued on February di, 1941, to Samuel F. Jarvis.

While I have shown a particular embodiment of my'invention7 it will be understood, of course,

that I do not wish to be limited thereto, since many modifications may be made, and I therefore contemplate by the appended claims to cover any such modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of my invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A charging device for an automatic gun provided with a reciprocating cooking member,

' said charging device comprising a rst motor provided with a member arranged to engage and move the cocking member to reload the gun, control means for said motor, a movably mounted timer member, a driving member, a frictional driving connection between said timer member and said driving member providing a predetermined frictional driving force between them, a second motor, a non-reversible gearing connecting said second motor with said frictional driving member whereby said timer member is driven by said second motor from a starting position toward a second position, a resetting member connected to said timer member arranged to be engaged and moved by the cocking member of the gun thereby to move said timer member against said frictional driving force to reset it in said starting position, said timer member being driven at such speed by said second motor as to be reset in said starting position before reaching said second position during normal firing operation of the cocking member, and means operated by said timer member when driven to said second position for operating said control means to effect operation of said first motor to reload the gun.

2. A charging device for an automatic gun provided with a reciprocating cooking member, said charging device comprising a first motor provided with a member arranged to engage and move the cocking member to effect reciprocation of the cooking member to reload the gun, control means for said motor, a pivot support, a timer arm pivotally mounted on said pivot support, a driving member pivotally mounted on said support, a frictional driving connection between said timer arm and said driving member, a second motor, a driving connection between said second motor and said driving member whereby said timer arm is driven by said second motor from a starting position toward a second position, a resetting member connected to said timer arm arranged to be engaged and moved by the cocking member of the gun thereby to turn said timer arm independently of said driving member against the frictional force of said driving connection to reset said timer arm in said starting position, said timer arm being driven at such speed as to be reset before reaching said second position during normal firing operation of the cocking member, and means operated by said timer arm when driven to said second position for operating said control means to effect operation of said rst motor to reload the gun.

3. A charging device for an automatic gun provided with a reciprocating cooking member, said charging device comprising a first motor provided with a member arranged to engage and move the cooking member to effect reciprocation of the cooking member to reload the gun, control means for said motor, a pivot support, a timer member pivotally mounted on said pivot support,a worm gear rotatably mounted on said pivot support, a frictional driving connection between said timer member and said Worm gear, an electric second motor, a Worm connecting said second motor with said Worm gear whereby said timer member is turned by lsaid second motor from a starting 'position toward a second position, a resetting arm on said timer member arranged to be engaged and moved by the cooking member of the gun thereby to turn said timer member against the frictional force of said driving connection to reset said timer member in said starting position, said timer member being driven at such speed as to be reset in said starting position before reaching said second position during normal firing operation of the cooking member, and means operated by said timer member when driven to said secondposition for operating said control means to effect operation of said first motor to reload the gun.

4. A charging device for an automatic gun provided with a reciprocating cocking member, said charging device comprising a 'support arranged to be secured to the gun, driving means on said support arranged to engage and operate the cockling member on the gun Yto reload the gun, a movably mounted registering member, means biasing said registering member to a, starting position, latch means for securing said registering member in any one of a plurality of positions, an operating member for said registering member arranged to be engaged by said driving means for movement of said registering member step by step by successive operations of said driving means to reload the gun, means operated by said registering member upon movement of said registering member to a predetermined position for disabling said driving means, an inertia member movably mounted on said support so as to be moved with relation torsaid support by the recoil shock applied to said support by the firing of the gun, and release means on said latch means arranged to be engaged and moved yby said inertia member to release said registering member for resetting movement of said registering member to said starting position in accordance with its bias.

ALEXANDER C.V WALL. 

